NHS TREATMENTS

The NHS Dental services underwent fundamental change from 1st April 2006. ADP continues to be committed to providing NHS dentistry in its practices and to work with Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to improve access to high quality NHS services. Each NHS practice now has a capped budget to provide NHS care and cannot provide more than this allocation without further funding from the PCT. If you wish to know more about local NHS services, you should contact your PCT.

Dental Charges

As part of the change in contracts, patient charges will now be related to courses of treatment rather than on a fee per item basis. Where you are eligible to pay charges, you will pay a set fee for the complete course of NHS treatment regardless of the numbers of items or appointments necessary to complete that treatment. These courses of treatment will fall into three bands. Each band has an associated charge which will cover the whole course of treatment. The appropriate course of treatment and cost of the treatment will be discussed with you and a treatment plan agreed.

Previously, our policy has been to collect payment at each visit to the practice. Under the new scheme, payment will be required at the commencement of the course of treatment for the whole course of treatment. This will mean that no further appointments will be booked until payment has been made to cover the full cost of the course of the treatment agreed with the dentist. The current arrangements for exempt patients will not change and sight of exempt documentation will be required at the commencement of the course of treatment. The current exemptions (including for children) will not change under the new arrangements. Our practice staff will be able to assist with any enquires you have regarding payment exemptions.

Failure to attend fees (FTAs)

NHS resources are under great demand and when you book an appointment and do not attend, you may prevent other patients from accessing that care. It has been ADP policy to charge patients for missed appointments wherever short notice cancellation or failure to attend results in lost treatment time to the dentist.

Under the new NHS contract, when a patient is unable to attend an NHS appointment and fails to notify the practice, we will no longer be able to charge an FTA fee. However, to prevent the waste of valuable clinical time, the practice has a right to deregister a patient for failing to either give sufficient notice (24 hours) or for failing to attend for an appointment. ADP has a clear policy: failing to attend for two appointments or, failing to give more than 24 hours notice of cancellation (unless the patient can demonstrate a very good reason for the cancellation) on two occasions, will lead to automatic deregistration from the practice. Surgery time is very valuable and all that we ask is that you allow us the opportunity to give the appointment to another patient by giving us sufficient notice. Please note that FTA fees will continue to be charged for appointments which are for private treatment upgrades.

What is available under the new NHS system

You will receive all the treatments clinically necessary for your health. As with the previous system, items which are considered to be "cosmetic" (white fillings on back teeth, bleaching, some types of crowns and cosmetic upgrades to bridges and dentures) will only be available under private contract. These options are all available from your practice and should be discussed as part of your treatment plan with your dentist. The dentist will provide you with an estimate for all the work required. However, you will be required to sign a consent form to confirm your acceptance of the course of treatment as agreed. Again payment will be required at the commencement of the course of treatment.

Just because you choose to have some treatment items performed privately does not mean that you compromise or lose your NHS status. You are still an NHS patient and welcome to access all the NHS services available. Private options are a personal choice and part of the necessary process of informed consent that allows you to make informed treatment decisions.

Scaling and Polishing

Recent evidence has shown that up to 80% of patients receive no health benefit from routine scaling and polishing. Moreover, the most effective health gain for patients with mildly bleeding gums (gingivitis) arises from education, training in tooth brushing, and regular interproximal plaque removal (floss or interdental brushes). You will receive an individual gum health assessment and all the treatment clinically necessary for your health. Where gum disease is severe (periodontitis), a specific course of preventive treatment and professional cleaning will always be provided, together with a maintenance programme. However, in a change to previous policy, in a healthy mouth, stain and visible tartar removal may need to be provided under private contract. To help you to keep your mouth as clean as you would wish, most ADP practices have access to hygienist services under private contract.

Out of hours emergency treatment

As part of the new system, PCTs are required to provide access to out of hours emergency treatment. You will still need to telephone the emergency number advertised in the practice. This number will give further information on how to access the service being provided by the PCT. This service is likely to be at a location away from the practice.

Recalls

Recent guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has indicated that the standard 6 monthly recall period may not be appropriate in most cases. Therefore, future recalls will be based on individual clinical need and may be as long as 18 months apart. With this in mind, ADP has decided that it would be more appropriate to contact patients when a recall is due rather than book your next appointment. This enables us to reduce the numbers of changed appointments and failures to attend and prevents valuable surgery time being lost. Patients are asked to ensure that your details held at the practice are correct, including your mobile telephone number. The practice will contact you a few weeks before the time for your recall examination for an appointment to be made. A text messaging service is available, convenient and cost effective.

NHS CHARGES